FROM THE INBOX As much as I would like to stop writing about PM Najib administration, the plot just got interesting and I think he may just hit the bull’s eye as far as my prediction that his downfall may be faster than his predecessor, Abdullah Badawi, is concerned. Compared with Najib, Badawi now seems like a cute adorable little kitten, who merely likes to sleep (on the job). Malaysians tend to be more forgiving on lazy prime minister but not a prime minister who lies, cheats, brutal, dirty (allegation on Mongolian Altantuya’s murder), hypocrite but above all foolish yet arrogant.
One cannot help but fall off the chair laughing after reading that Najib said he cancelled a family vacation because he wants to spend more time with Malaysians. This was perhaps the best joke ever by premier Najib since he took over from Abdullah Badawi. This joke is actually worth a thousand “Likes” on his Facebook page. Forget about Bersih 2.0 because this guy may quit under pressure – not from opposition parties or Bersih 2.0 but from his internal UMNO party. Boy, if it was true that the US$24 million controversial diamond ring indeed belongs to his wife Rosmah Mansor, that ring is cursed.
Anyone notice the deadly silence from Mahathir after the Bersih 2.0 rally that instantly flush Najib’s popularity into the toilet bowl? I’ve written earlier that Najib administration’s extreme stupidity in tackling the simple issue of Bersih 2.0 made the whole episode smells like a rat. Najib can’t be that foolish (or was he?) and even if he was indeed stupid, his wife would have saved the day, unless of course the plan to unseat him has been brought forward by his own circles.Mahathir doesn’t like Najib for two main reasons - his wife and his close connection with Singapore Government.
It seems Najib may have to quit soon, probably before his term expires in 2013. And if Najib plans to stay until next year to enjoy more free overseas holidays using taxpayers money under his capacity as the prime minister, his dream is now short-lived based on his emergency return to take control of Putrajaya. How on earth could everything turn upside-down before his “shopping” trip to United Kingdom and Italy ends? It appears he has no other option but to call an early election, possibly before 11-11-2011 in order to neutralize his enemy from within UMNO, if he’s able to do that.
1) Perkasa Ibrahim Ali
Ibrahim Ali, the guy whom you love and hate has successfully performed his duty, if indeed it was true that he was actually a mole, regardless whether he was planted by Anwar or Mahathir. His job was to create chaos and racial disharmony. Both Anwar or Mahathir knew the Malay votes and to a certain extent the Indian votes have returned to UMNO under Najib’s leadership. If the Chinese voters were to go back in droves to the UMNO-led National Front coalition, then the opposition is toast and Najib would become very powerful, so much so that he can ask Mahathir to fly kite.
One has to remember Mahathir is a master in the game of divide-and-rule. As long as Ibrahim Ali can continuously feed the racial hatred cookies to both ethnic-Malay and ethnic-Chinese, Najib’s strength is being checked. And wasn’t Ibrahim Ali a director in Vincent Tan’s Berjaya Group, one of the closest cronies during Mahathir administration? Well, if Najib truly believed that Ibrahim Ali was God-sent Angel to help fish runaway Malay votes for his administration, then he deserves what he’s getting now.
2) Deputy PM Muhyiddin
One needs to see the bigger picture on how the deputy PM seems to be pouring kerosene everytime his boss, PM Najib Razak, starts a new project in his bid to gain voters’ support. When Najib was shouting till foam at mouth his 1Malaysia concept, Muhyiddin declared he was Malay first and Malaysian second. And of course Mahathir almost swear he doesn’t actually understand the concept of 1Malaysia. Muhyiddin is indeed a strong deputy as he was one of the warlords who enjoys ground support.
Najib doesn’t like a strong deputy because it would make him looks weak, which is true because his political rising star was purely based on his father’s name, the second prime minister Tun Razak. In short, Najib was born with silver platter hence he has never been known to be a risk-taker. The fact that Muhyiddin together with Mahathir were extremely quiet post-Bersih 2.0 rally speak volumes about how both were equally pleased with the public and international criticism on the Najib administration in handling the peaceful demonstration. Muhyiddin can almost smell the aroma of the premiership.
3) Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein
Given the option, Muhyiddin would like to become the Prime Minister yesterday but there’s another opportunist who like to climb the ladder and he’s none other than Najib’s own cousin – Hishammuddin Hussein. In Malaysia, it seems only the elite groups have the priviledge to become the prime minister. Just like how Najib leveraged on his daddy’s priviledge name, Hishammuddin was drooling about becoming the next prime minister since his father was the country’s third prime minister.
Needless to say, Mahathir was also architecting the plan to build his own dynasty. Time is the luxury Mahathir doesn’t have considering his current age. Going by his plan, he would like to see his own son takes over the throne while he’s still alive – after Muhyiddin warmed the seat. But with Hishammuddin controlling the police force, this little obstacle needs to be neutralized and what better way than to promise a deputy prime minister-ship to Hishammuddin after Mahathir’s son gets to sit on the throne? Hishammudin must be a fool to believe such a promise but then he is not a very clever fellow nonetheless.
He’s an opportunist who would not think twice about jumping ships, cousin or not. Judging by how he declared the Bersih 2.0 an illegal organization, made wild but laughable allegations that PSM-6 were waging war against the King and linked them to communism but later accused them of being involved as “movers and activists” to Berish 2.0, arresting people for wearing yellow T-shirts and whatnot goes to show how he tried to make Najib administration looks very foolish. As fast as he plucked accusations on PSM-6 from the sky, he disappeared with equal speed after Bersih 2.0; leaving the police to take care of their own mess. Has Najib ever wondered that his own cousin has jumped ship to Mahathir-Muhyiddin tag-team?
4) Bersih 2.0 and Marina Mahathir
Many people praise Mahathir’s daughter, Marina, for taking part in the Bersih 2.0 although strangely she didn’t participate in Bersih 1.0 (or did she?). Of course that was after she blogged about it and fortunately she didn’t get tear-gassed by the police. Silly me, of course she didn’t get to taste the water cannon or tear-gas because she didn’t lead the marchers. It would be fun to see if the police would still spray her knowing she’s the daughter of former powerful dictator Mahathir Mohamad.
Coincidently Mahathir was deadly silent while the daughter suddenly become super vocal in condemning Najib administration. She can’t possibly speak on her daddy’s behalf in pouring fuel into the fire in the plan to unseat Najib, can she? But how could anyone suspect Marina’s noble intention in supporting the Bersih 2.0. For goodness sake, she won’t kill an ant so how can she has ill-intention towards Bersih 2.0. Compared to her monster daddy, Marina is such a charming angel so let’s give her the benefit of the doubt.
At most, Marina may have “consulted” his daddy and his daddy“encouraged” her to “speak as she sees fit” (*grin*). Maybe Marina should speak about the brutality in Teoh Beng Hock, Ahmad Sarbani or Kugan’s death in the hand of MACC and police as well, no?
5) Utusan Malaysia
The only role of Utusan, the newspaper owned by UMNO, was to publish racial articles – the more the merrier. The justification of doing so was to drum the support of Malay voters. The rural illiterate Malay voters will always support UMNO while the urban educated Malay voters are with the opposition parties. The fence-sitters will swing to whichever side depending on the respective party’s campaign. But assuming the Utusan is still under Najib’s control, won’t it be over-kill to not only fan the racial hatred, Christianity would take over from Islam as the country’s official religion and opposition trying to revive communism but also in taking the slingshot at Jews?
Utusan’s latest loose cannon was aiming at Jews by alleging that the Bersih 2.0 rally could open the door to Jews and Israel to infiltrate Malaysia. B’nai B’rith International, a Jewish humanitarian organisation, called the allegation “preposterous” and “offensive” and which only serves to perpetuate an anti-Semitic attitude. Heck, if there’s one thing you do not wish to disturb, it’s in toying with anti-Semitic game. Mahathir had learnt his painful lesson in sticking the nest of anti-Semitic and certainly the coward Najib won’t dare to even think about such idea.
The fact that Utusan was happily sowing anti-Semitic hatred while Najib administration was busy doing damage-control by explaining to the international media and foreign government about police repression and intimidation on peaceful protestors goes to show that Najib was not in control of Utusan. If Utusan was not within Najib’s control, then Utusan is reporting to someone much more powerful than the prime minister.
6) Matthias Chiang
Mahathir’s die-hard fan and adviser, Matthias Chiang had slammed Najib administration about its handling of the country's economy and practically didn’t put any hope that Najib could overcome the global financial crisis. To be fair, Matthias Chiang was also super critical about Abdullah Badawi and his son-in-law administration. Heck, this guy would even criticise Abraham Lincoln and Queen Elizabeth because his only idol was his former boss, Mahathir Mohamad, simply because Mahathir can do no worng as the former premier was the only visionary ever born in this world, literally.
Before the Bersih 2.0 rally, Matthias wrote that Najib should just let the rally proceed and not make a big fuss out of it, something which I wrote earlier as well. But knowing Najib’s arrogance, such advise would not reach his ears. Maybe Matthias was giving Najib last opportunity, after consultation from Mahathir, to stop, think and act rationally rather than emotionally (or rather stupidly). The water is under the bridge now and Najib has to face the consequences of his stubbornness and arrogance.
7) Angkatan Amanah Rakyat (Amanah)
Don’t you smell rats (what’s wrong with my nose?) that UMNO veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah chose to launch his new group, Angkatan Amanah Rakyat (Amanah), at this hour? Suddenly this Kelantan prince called on the silent majority to voice their discontent against “rife corruption, cronyism and racial crisis” despite his many decades serving UMNO as if he has just awaken from hibernation. The fact that he’s still not willing to quit UMNO and focus in this so-called third force raised many questions and doubts.
It’s not difficult to conclude that his new Amanah is more of a political movement set up to take advantage of the current chaos within UMNO and the huge support Bersih 2.0 is enjoying. The fact that the group consists of political veterans (or rather rejected) such as former tourism minister Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir, former Sabah Chief Osu Sukam, former MCA president Ong Tee Keat and others triggered suspicions about its real intention. If you believe these people have Bersih (Clean) themselves, then you also believe Paris Hilton is still a virgin.
Wasn’t Kadir Sheikh Fadzir the person who tried to parachute a Proton car into South Pole to impress his boss Mahathir only to find out the oil used couldn’t handle the low temperature? And wasn’t Osu Sukam the guy whom gambling debts snowballed to RM7.1 million that two foreign casinos, London-based Ritz Hotel Casino Ltd and RHC Ltd, had to seek High Court help to recover the debts, despite the fact that as a Muslim Osu Sukam should not had gambled? Sure, they have repented and become the good guys and are now on a mission to save the world (*grin*).
Anyway, is Razaleigh trying to hijack the situation in an attempt to lock-in discontent votes especially from Bersih 2.0′s 709 Facebook revolution and UMNO rejected warlords or little Napoleans who are about to be dumped by Najib in the next general election? As much as Razaleigh tries to lead the third force, he couldn’t even explain the real role of his new pet project, let alone in assuring people that his movement is indeed neutral and not another power broker opportunist. Maybe Razaleigh sensed this will be the golden opportunity for him to become the next prime minister after all.
In a scenario where opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is sent to prison and both opposition and Najib coalition locked in a stalemate in the next general election, PM-wannabe Razaleigh would play the role of the kingmaker, if his Amanah managed to capture some strategic seats. Hey, he didn’t say his Amanah group is purely a NGO and not a potential political party, did he? Mahathir is more than willing to offer the prime ministership to Razaleigh than to lose it to opposition while the opposition would see Razaleigh as a good fit in case of a vacuum left by Anwar Ibrahim.
Razaleigh is old – the most he can walk the corridors of powers is one-term so it seems everybody would favours him, in case of a stalemate. Whether Amanah is the brainchild of Razaleigh or was indirectly sponsored by Mahathir is immaterial. The objective was to unseat Najib Razak as he carries too much baggage so much so that he may bring UMNO down to a level which is beyond repair. When that happens all the corrupt UMNO warlords would need to take the first flight out of the country so you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to decide whether it’s worthwhile to keep Najib Razak. Gosh, the plot thickens and become super interesting.
8 ) Bourdon-French-Scorpene Connection
French human rights lawyer William Bourdon was already in the country since earlier this week and the government had full knowledge about the purpose of his trip and yet the Immigration Department did not refuse him entry into Malaysia, until PM Najib Razak rushed back from his unfinished shopping trip. Surely it can’t be that the Immigration Department was sleeping on the job. Obviously some very senior and influential leaders (more powerful than PM Najib) were pulling the string in allowing the French lawyers into the country to do maximum damage by embarrasing Najib Razak.
The moment Najib rushed home, the French lawyer was deported. Bourdon was arrested after Immigration officials boarded his plane which landed in KLIA from Penang. As expected, the excuse given for the deportation was that the French lawyer violated the conditions of his visit to Malaysia. But if even my cat can tell that it was the government’s RM7.3 billion purchase of submarines from French shipbuilder DCNS that got Bourdon deported, who is Najib administration to bluff?
9) Mahathir Mohamad
There’re two main things that Mahathir doesn’t like about Najib administration –his wife and his close relationship with Singapore, not to mention the dictator just realized Najib is another Abdullah Badawi clone – slogan king without substance. It’s perfectly alright to be corrupt but the country’s economy gravy train has to continuously churning out moolah. The pace of corruption and economic progress have to work hand in glove. If you wish to take 100 bucks you have to make sure the economic train can generate at least 200 bucks. But the way the country’s economic is moving, it seems it was in reverse order - too many hands in the cookie jar.
During Mahathir’s era, the corruption was done in a systematic way, you let the goose lay its golden egg before you take it and not the current way of slaughtering the goose hoping to get all the golden eggs. When there’re not enough eggs to be distributed, chaos erupts as everyone would get anxious, panic and greedy thus triggering the process of massive corruption. This is bad for next UMNO leaders (such as Mahathir’s own son or dynasty) as there would be nothing more left. Suddenly it appears bringing Najib down is much more easier than Abdullah Badawi.
However, there’s a risk that Mahathir’s plan may backfire if the opposition manage to capture Putrajaya in the next general election. And that was why Razaleigh’s Amanah is in the picture now. Razaleigh’s Amanah would be able to split the votes which would otherwise ended up in the opposition’s bag as well as to act as bargaining chip should Najib needs them to stay in power. Razaleigh is noble enough to act as the airbag to absorb impact in case of a sudden car crash. Razaleigh doesn’t play dirty politics as he put priority on his dignity as a Kelantan prince. Time will tell if he’s still a fool to be played out, again, by Mahathir. But after more than 20-years since his defeat, maybe Razaleigh is mature and smart enough this time aorund and may spring some surprises for Mahathir.
Now, Najib’s choices reduced to two – to resign honourably, which is highly unlikely, or to call a snap election this year, earlier than his favourite lucky number 11-11-2011. PM Najib actually doesn’t have much choice and he has only himself to blame. If only he would listen to the voice of bloggers, the Bersih 2.0 rally would proceed and the whole problem would be non-existent. Negotiate and comply with probably half of the Bersih 2.0′s demands and he can still win handsomely as Sabah and Sarawak are still the fixed deposit. Ambiga is not a politician and surely she would be more than happy if Najib can promise half the demands, buy some time until the next delineation exercise takes effect (another round of gerrymandering) and Najib can still remains as the prime minister.
Of course, he can still gamble his last chip by calling a snap election this year, before Mahathir pull his string from behind getting UMNO Supreme Council warlords demanding Najib’s resignation. Either way, it’s quite difficult for Najib to win two-third majority when his own people are sharpening knifes for his head.It’s game over for Najib Razak. He already made his moolah and can retire young retire rich, at Port Dickson. And Abdullah Badawi may call him from his iPhone poking joke why Najib resigns sooner than his (Badawi) term.
- The above article is on an 'As is Where Is' basis and left largely unedited
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